Ahead of releasing iOS 5 to users today, Apple released two new universal iOS apps: one for keeping track of other friends with iOS devices, and another for setting up and managing the company's wireless networking equipment.

The first of those is Find My Friends (iTunes), an app Apple debuted at last week's "Let's talk iPhone" event. Like the company's "Find My iPhone" app, it lets you see where one or more iOS devices are on a map, though in Find My Friends' case, these are people who do not share your MobileMe or iCloud account, and have opted in to share that information with you.

As for the Airport Utility app (iTunes), it gives iOS users the same controls that can be found in Apple's Mac OS X Airport Utility, letting them set up and make adjustments to Apple's Airport Extreme, Airport Express, and Time Capsule wireless networking hardware. That includes simple things like changing passwords and SSID names, to more advanced adjustments like running firmware updates and changing access controls.

Worth noting is that Apple decided to keep both of these apps separate from the iOS 5 release, which the company has said will arrive today. That means Apple can roll out changes to these apps independently of iOS software releases, but also requires that users find and install them from the App Store in the first place.

Apple blog 9to5mac, which spotted both pieces of software in the App Store this morning, notes that both apps require iOS 5, which has not yet been released.